Scripture Introduction
The second grade teacher showed a magnet to her class and illustrated its uses. The next day she gave a quiz with this question: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?” Half of the students wrote, “Magnet.” The other half answered: “Mother.”
Speaking of a mother’s work, a 1920’s book, The Children’s Story Garden, tells of “a boy named Bradley…who, when he was about eight years old he had the bad habit of thinking of everything as worth so much money…. One morning when Bradley came down to breakfast, he put on his mother’s plate a little piece of paper, neatly folded. His mother opened it, and could hardly believe what Bradley had written: ‘Mother owes Bradley: for running errands, 25 cents; for being good, 10 cents; for taking music lessons, 15 cents; for extras, 5 cents. Total, 55 cents.’” Bradley had billed his mother!
“Mom smiled but made no comment. At lunch Bradley found the 55 cent payment, along with a bill of his own. Opening it he read—‘Bradley owes Mother: for nursing him through scarlet fever, nothing; for being good to him, nothing; for clothes, shoes and playthings, nothing; for his playroom, nothing; for his meals, nothing. Total: nothing.’”
On this Mother’s Day we pause and thank God for pressing mothers to sacrifice so much without pay. And many pastors use Hannah’s life as a Mother’s Day text. The idea is simple: Hannah is a model mother; therefore, “Be a Hannah.” In fact, several pastors suggest this outline:
1) Women of Faith Endure Real Problems (1Samuel 1.1-8)
2) Women of Faith Extend Vibrant Prayers (1Samuel 1.9-18)
3) Women of Faith Experience God’s Provisions (1Samuel 1.19-20)
4) Women of Faith Excel at Keeping Promises (1Samuel 1.21-28)
5) Women of Faith Express Their Praise (1Samuel 2.1-10)
I see two problems with that approach. First, it leaves out some of the things which happened to Hannah: 6) Women of Faith Pray and Get a Baby (but do they always?); 7) Women of Faith Give Their Firstborn Sons to the Priest to Raise (really?); 8) Women of Faith Enjoy Polygamist Families (I don’t think so). The text tells us too much simply to “Be a Hannah.”
Another difficulty with making “Women of Faith” the subject of this text is that the Bible is not primarily about Hannah. Yes, it tells of real people, as their small lives pass through the orbit of the galaxy of God’s glorious purpose. But God is the center, and a proper reading of Hannah’s story fixes our eyes on the glory and greatness of God. [Read 1Samuel 1-2.10. Pray.]
Introduction
Samuel tells of God’s people beginning where the book of Judges leaves off. In our Bibles, the book of Ruth intervenes, the story of a great love and devotion that occurred in the midst of the Judges. The history timeline actually moves from Judges directly to Samuel. And if you look back to the last sentence in Judges, we find a sad and desperate situation.
ESV Judges 21.25: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Judges is the time with no king. Rather than delight in the reign and rule of God, Israel throws off the shackles of religion. But rebellion brings misery and the people plead for a redeemer. Samuel, then, tells how God graciously places his king over his people to govern and bless them. And the first step is Hannah, a mother who experienced great trials and tribulations. What were her troubles?
First, she was married to a desperate man. The union of Elkanah and Hannah produced no child. But rather than trust God, he does what we all find so tempting — he submits to the wisdom of the age and grabs an extra wife. And good news — she is fertile, and his problems sprout like weeds! There is a saying: “Men are often beaten with rods of their own making.” Elkanah’s desperation teased him into bringing the sin and misery of polygamy into his home and Hannah suffered because of her husband’s failures.
Second, Hannah lived in the days of a deplorable church. God includes (in verse 3) the names of Eli’s two sons to remind us of the terrible condition of the church. Hophni and Phinehas stole from the people’s offerings; they rebelled against their father; they were known womanizers. So evil were they that God struck them both dead on the same day. In addition to all that, when Hannah goes to the church to pray, Eli jumps to the conclusion that she must be drunk. One does not make such assumptions unless he has seen similar behavior.
Third, Hannah lived in a divided family. ESV 1 Samuel 1.6 “And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.” Can’t you hear the self-serving speech of Peninnah around the supper table?
“Now do all you children have your food? Dear me, there are so many of you, it’s hard to keep track.”
“Mommy, Miss Hannah doesn’t have any children.”
“What did you say, dear?”
“I said, Miss Hannah doesn’t have any children.”
“Miss Hannah? Oh yes, that’s right—she doesn’t have any children.”
“Doesn’t she want children?”
“Oh yes, she wants children very much! Wouldn’t you say so, Hannah? Don’t you wish you had children too?”
Doesn’t Daddy want Miss Hannah to have kids?”
“Oh, certainly he does—but Miss Hannah disappoints him; she can’t have kids.”
“Why not?”
“Why, because God won’t let her.”
“Does God not like Miss Hannah?”
“Well, I don’t know — what do you think? Oh, by the way, Miss Hannah, did I tell you that I’m pregnant again?! You think you’ll ever be pregnant, Hannah?” [From Davis, Looking on the Heart, with modifications.]
And don’t miss v. 7: “So it went on year by year." [This was not endured for a weekend or a month, but more like a decade. And then note well the rest of verse 7.] "As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat.” There is no scorn so hard to bear as that which is cloaked in the veil of pretended religion. Peninnah especially pressed upon Hannah God’s displeasure whenever Hannah worshipped.
Fourth, Hannah was barren. Being childless was a shame, a social stigma. It was a sign of God’s curse, a daily reminder of Divine disfavor.
Yet, Hannah loved God in the midst of deep distress. God records these events to show us how he works in our lives so that we too might love him, even in deep waters. As John Rippon wrote in How Firm a Foundation, “When through the deep waters I call you to go, the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow; for I will be with you, your troubles to bless, and sanctify to you your deepest distress. When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie, my grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply; the flame shall not hurt you; I only design your dross to consume and your gold to refine.”
1. God Troubles Us to Bring Us to the End of Ourselves
At first, this story seems to be about God’s relief. Like you, Hannah deserves a life of comfort and ease, of pleasure and prosperity. And God supplies, in abundance. But attention to detail reveals God’s trouble prior to any relief.
Let’s look at one example: ESV 1Samuel 1.5: “But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb.” Did you miss it? If so, it is repeated in the next verse: ESV 1Samuel 1.6: “And her rival used to provoke her grievously to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb.” Without punctuation marks or italics or bold print, how do you emphasize your main point? You repeat it: truly, truly I say to you: The Lord closed her womb, the Lord closed her womb. It is not just that Hannah is troubled, she is tested by God.
Clearly, divine sovereignty works in a way unpopular in our world. Many Christians are happy to say, “God blessed me” — few can stomach a God who does not live to please…me. Yet the true God disquiets my comfort and ease.
Listen to the Apostle Paul: “We are afflicted in every way,… perplexed,… persecuted,… struck down,… carrying in the body the death of Jesus,… always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake.” Why does God do this? Paul tells us: “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Corinthians 4.7-12).
Our failure is not that we are too weak for God to work. It is not that we are too powerless for the One who spewed forth a million billion spinning suns with a mere word. Our sin in not insufficiency, but self-sufficiency. We are too strong; we trust too much in ourselves. We naturally believe we can handle life on our own. God troubles us to expose that lie. It is when we are at the end of our strength, without hope, without a chance, with no way of accomplishing what needs to be done, that God stretches his hand to rescue and restore: “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
I have heard it suggested that a pastor’s job is the hardest in the world. I’m not sure if that is true; there are many hard jobs, one of which is being a pastor’s wife. Yet for all the trials and troubles we have seen, never once has Helen wavered from her commitment that she would not give it up for anything. Why? She has said it a dozen times: there is nothing like the ministry for exposing our weaknesses and inadequacies, but through that God has done a greater work by bringing us to the end of ourselves.
Many churches and many individual Christians put all their effort into avoiding coming to the end of themselves. But unless a seed dies, it never comes to life. And unless a man take up his cross daily, he never lives.
If you are loved of God, then you are being troubled in some way this morning. Maybe you are childless, or maybe fearful of never marrying. Maybe a loved one has died, or you fear dying. Maybe God is disciplining you, or your husband has brought misery into your home. Maybe your job disgusts you or you cannot make it on the pay. Maybe you have a sin that you thought you could overcome or a spiritual life as barren as Hannah’s womb. Whatever your particular trouble, know this: your situation is not too desperate for God. But until you realize that it is too desperate for you, then you will not truly come to God for help in time of need.
2. God Troubles Us to Bring Us to the Fullness of Himself
A great many people get to the end of themselves and they get very bitter. Their disappointment with God is palpable; they leave the church, or give up on God’s people. We like God when he is kind and happy, but when he brings us to the end of ourselves — people turn their face away. And they do so before the reward. Why?
Maybe it is because we pursue God for the reward of having him make much of us. It looks like this. A person believes that the world works on the “I rub your back; you rub mine” principle. So they give a little something to God (pray one morning, or drop something in the offering plate, or go to church on occasion). Then they think, “God is now in my debt and since he is rich and generous, the payoff is going to be good.” But then they find that God is never in anyone’s debt. In fact, instead of exalting me, God humbles me, bringing me to the end of myself. What kind of reward is that? Forget it, and they fall away.
Does Hannah receive a reward for her trouble? She does, but not the reward of having God make much of her. Instead, Hannah shows you that the only reward worth having is to make much of God.
She makes much of God’s power. Hannah is the first person in recorded history to pray to the “Lord of hosts.” That means God who is at the head of hosts of armies: 1) human armies and 2) celestial bodies and 3) heavenly creatures. It is a way of describing our God by pointing out that he is sovereign and powerful over all creation and all creatures. Nothing is too hard for him who controls of all the universe. “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” “[F]or with God, all things are possible.”
She makes much of God’s providence. Hannah observes that God kills and raises to life, he makes poor and rich, he humbles and exalts. In other words, he personally controls every creature and every action.
She makes much of God’s praise. Hannah does not put on a happy face and smile when she talks about Jesus. She cries and fasts, she weeps bitterly and laments with deep distress. Biblical faith is not some Pollyannaish pretense — but neither is it taking your tears and pain and running away from God. When Hannah brought her grief to God, she found his fullness.
Hannah does not say, “I could not get pregnant,” but, “God closed my womb.” Not, “My rival tormented me,” but “The Lord sent a trial.” Not “My husband is an insensitive lout,” but “Jehovah made me sensitive to suffering and supplication.” Not, “God drove me away,” but “God drew me near.” “The Lord is my rock; my strength is exalted in God’s salvation. My situation did not make sense – barrenness, tears, despair, provoking, ridicule, being misunderstood. But now I see him and his salvation.”
When David was angry with God for striking down Uzzah, he doubled the intensity of his worship. Most of us halve ours. Every pastor I know has seen it — the church member offended by last week’s sermon refuses to sing this week. We say we believe that God is sovereign over all things (including the pastor’s pressing us where it hurts), but when the push actually comes, we draw back from the Lord. We nurse our wounds; we cry in private.
Your trouble and trials are gifts to bring you to the fullness of God’s grace.
3. God Troubles Us to Bring the World to Christ
I have wondered why Hannah placed Samuel in Eli’s care. He failed both as a parent and as a high priest. And even if he had not, why make such a vow? I simply cannot agree with those who say that the main point is that parents should keep the vows they make to the Lord.
The answer is that Samuel’s birth is not centrally the account of God’s answering Hannah’s prayer, but of God’s troubling Hannah to the point where she prayed this prayer. Samuel’s birth is far bigger than Hannah getting a baby. That desire God graciously answered in the birth of her other three sons and two daughters. Samuel is not born to take away the shame and pain of an empty womb and a cruel rival. Samuel exists to crown David king, so the ancestor of Jesus would be king in Israel, a man after God’s own heart.
Why did Hannah go through the pain of an insensitive husband, a jealous rival, an accusation of drunkenness from the priest, years of bitter tears, hundreds of mocking words, distress, affliction, pain and grief? To serve the cause of King Jesus. You must decide if that is reward enough for you.
Paul decided it was: ESV Philippians 3.7-10: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
God brought trials to Hannah to bring Hannah to him and Jesus into the world. Hannah shared in Christ’s sufferings. Twelve hundred years later, God brought the great trial to Jesus to bring us to him and salvation to the world. Now God brings trials to us to bring us to him and his sufferings to a watching world. They want to know if anything is of greater worth than our own comfort and ease. Will you love God in your distress? You think about that.
[A Sermon for Mother’s Day. Preached by Pastor Glenn Durham on May 11, 2008, at The Church of the Covenant, PCA, Cincinnati, Ohio. This transcript may be downloaded and/or copied for reading and personal use, provided it is not changed, sold, or quoted without credit, and that this note and the following copyright notice is included. ©2008 by Glenn Durham. All rights reserved.]
